


11:11

by monamis



Category: K-pop, Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: AUs nobody really asked for lmao, F/F, expect cameos and fluff and angst and the occasional dip into darker or friskier stuff?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 04:11:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10756449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monamis/pseuds/monamis
Summary: A collection of AU wenseul/seuldy oneshots for each letter of the alphabet.





	11:11

**Author's Note:**

> A classic story of two rivals vying for one girl’s affection. Kind of.

 

 

 

It takes about five minutes for her to fall head over heels in hate.

 

The time is four PM on the dot and Seulgi is running as fast as her legs can manage when she's wearing heeled boots. Excitement thrums in her veins after seeing her parents off at the car park, mixing with tense anticipation at starting her new life in university — even if her personal space does have to be shared with another girl for a year.

 

Right now though, the adrenaline fuelling her sprint is mostly due to the fact that she's running late to a meeting with a very busy Bae Joohyun.

 

"Sorry if I kept you waiting, unnie!"

 

Her childhood friend looks up, pocketing her phone with a sigh as Seulgi rummages around in her knapsack for the novel she borrowed over summer. As a bookworm and closet nerd, Joohyun’s always been avid about literature. It made sense that — after years of drilling correct grammar and advanced vocabulary into Seulgi’s brain — the older girl would go on to study literature at university and eventually become a TA in the course. Which also meant she would ‘suggest’ certain reading materials to Seulgi.

 

This typically involved outright handing her first edition hardbacks; all while knowing how Seulgi has always been prone to returning things a day before they’re actually needed.

 

"For once,” Joohyun says evenly, “you're actually almost on time. I just got here a few minutes ago."

 

Seulgi gives a heavy sigh of relief as she hands the book over to her. "Cool, I was worried I'd get smacked around the head for —"

 

"Bae Joohyun–sunbaenim!"

 

Her words are cut off with a yelp as she’s shoved aside by something small yet unyieldingly strong, and Seulgi only just manages to save herself from kissing the floor with quick reflexes honed from years of avoiding the Bae siblings’ combined assaults.

 

(She can thank Yerim for that. With time, nobody would have any choice but to learn how to dodge random water balloons at a moment’s notice.)

 

The brunette recovers to see some uppity female babbling away at high speed to a wide eyed Joohyun, who doesn't seem to notice — or rather, doesn't have the chance to notice — that Seulgi's just been effectively shunted out of the way by the newcomer. Between that, and the fact that said newcomer doesn’t seem to notice what she’s done at all, Seulgi is pretty ticked off.

 

"Um, excuse me."

 

The girl pauses at the sharp edge of her tone to glance at her for all of two seconds. “Excused."

 

A switch goes off just like that and the irritation flares up into anger, which inevitably seeps into an instant, simmering hatred.

 

…Now, she has been going to therapy for it. The thing is, anger management counselling hasn’t been as easy as Seulgi and her family thought it would be. She never seemed to be prone to tantrums until middle school, and when too many things seemed to set her off, all the psychologist could tell her was: “Deep breaths, Seulgi. Think of your happy place, and count to ten slowly. Works every time.”

 

It works. Sometimes.

 

(Three times. Out of twenty.)

 

Regardless, when she takes in a deep breath through her nose and shortens her count to ten milliseconds, she does try to think of her happy place.

 

As of this moment, that would be dunking this rude brat into the nearest trash can.

 

“Hey you.”

 

The shorter girl pauses mid-sentence once again to spare her an unimpressed look.

 

“Yeah, you,” Seulgi snarls, stepping forward. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

 

“Seulgi…" Joohyun begins chidingly, but the stranger is turning to her properly now with a raised eyebrow, her eyes narrowing just slightly behind dark sapphire bangs.

 

And who the hell dyes their hair blue in this day and age, anyway?

 

…Unless she bats for the same team? Blue is the Warmest Colour, and all? Plus, if she cut it shorter…Wait, that's not important right now.

 

Fight the girl, that's important!

 

"Since you asked so nicely…Seulgi, was it?” The art major in question gives a near–growl in response to the infuriating little head tilt she’s given. "I'm Wendy Son. Pleased to meet you."

 

"A pleasure," she replies flatly. "Now get lost."

 

"I'm afraid I don't want to do that,” Wendy sniffs, gesturing primly to the older girl standing awkwardly between them. “I'd much rather continue talking to Bae Joohyun–sunbaenim. Alone."

 

Keep up the deep breaths, Kang.

 

Don’t. Kill. The evil. Dwarf.

 

"Talk to some other sunbaenim. I was talking to her first."

 

The sapphire–haired student scoffs. “Bae Joohyun–sunbaenim happens to be my friend, too. Right, unnie?"

 

"Well —"

 

"'Unnie’?” Seulgi gives a bark of laughter. "You’re suddenly using unnie to sound like you’re her friend?"

 

“And if I am?” Wendy snipes back haughtily. "What are you going to do about it?"

 

The taller girl moves close enough to lean down and look her dead in the eyes. “I’ll make you wish you were never born."

 

All she gets is a scoff. "That's hilarious, coming from a human toothpick."

 

Mental talks of keeping any cool she has left go flying out of the window with a single twitch of her eye. "You're one to talk, hobbit."

 

“Ape."

 

“Smurf."

 

“Mouth–breather."

 

“Gnome."

 

“Reprobate."

 

"Snob."

 

For some reason that seems to set the girl on edge as she sets her jaw and clutches the strap of her bag with a huff, all before turning to their third party. “Sunbaenim come on, let’s just…go…"

 

The spot previously occupied by the lost–looking Literature TA is glaringly empty now, and in those awkward few seconds the duo just continues to stare at the void space in silence.

 

Seulgi is the first to break it. "…She's gone."

 

"Yes, I have eyes too," Wendy mutters after a moment, before rounding on her once more. "What's your business here, anyway? Are you another one of her creepy stalkers from summer school?"

 

"What do you mean, what's my business here?" she growls, pointing at the door beside them. "I'm not stalking her, this is my room."

 

The other girl scoffs. "This is my room."

 

"I just moved my stuff in there today!”

 

At this, Wendy goes stone still.

 

“Oh God. Please don't let this be what I think it is…" she mutters immediately, reaching for her bag and rifling around for barely a second before she’s taking out a familiar–looking paper. Seulgi’s eyes widen as she watches her unfold it, spotting the university emblem in the top left corner and promptly plucking the letter out of the girl’s hands.

 

"Hey, give that back!"

 

Using her height and two–inch ankle boots to her advantage, Seulgi simply holds the annoying midget at arm’s length as she lifts the paper up to read it.

 

“The fuck…?”

 

One line in particular catches her eye right away.

 

Room 214, Wendy Son Seungwan.

 

“You —“

 

No.

 

No.

 

She scrambles to take a similar paper from the front pocket of her leather jacket without lifting her eyes from the one in her hands, and it’s only when Wendy stoops to pick up the crumpled document that she realises it’s fallen on the floor. And before she can even snatch it out of her hands, her fears are confirmed by the way porcelain–white skin seems to pale impossibly more, after a quick skim of the page.

 

No, no, no, please —

 

“Room 214,” she hears a faint mumble. “Kang Seul…gi…"

 

Then Wendy looks up at the taller girl, mirroring her slack jawed expression as the latter's stomach drops.

 

Oh Hell. Fucking. No.

 

“You have got to be shitting me."

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Sharing a room with another person seemed bad enough on paper, but sharing a room with someone as infuriating as Wendy Son was hell on Earth.

 

University was supposed to be a place of freedom and youth. It was supposed to be a fresh start. A new start. A home away from home, where one could be surrounded by people their own age, with similar interests and aspirations.

 

The big catch for Seulgi was the fact that her designated roommate was a complete and utter asshole.

 

(A hot asshole, but an asshole nonetheless.

 

…Not that she would ever say that out loud, for reasons including but not limited to the fact that it could be taken out of context far too easily.)

 

The fact that they couldn’t change rooms following their very first, very loud argument on moving–in day crushed the first few hopes Seulgi had for a peaceful life at university. She’ll go to her grave swearing it was Wendy who started it by outright bulldozing her out of the way, but she knows her evil roommate would pledge to anyone with ears that Seulgi was the one who lost her cool and threw the insults first.

 

All in all, she didn't have the most ideal start to a budding life of semi–independence.

 

Horrible roommates usually tend to be messy as hell and noisier than a nightclub, with no respect for personal space or (from what Seulgi’s other unfortunate friends have told her) personal hygiene.

 

The thing about Wendy is that she’s more obsessed with tidiness than your average pencil pusher, and twice as much of an uptight kiss–ass, too. She’s makes a racket in the mornings but complains constantly about Seulgi disturbing her peace in the evenings, and her sense of hygiene extends to disinfecting anything she can get her hands on that's deemed even slightly dusty.

 

Not to mention her issue about boundaries, too.

 

Following their very first dispute on their very first day, Seulgi could only find comfort in the knowledge that Wendy was just as miserable as herself with their situation. That comfort was quickly dashed hours later, when she came back from a snack run to find her new roommate cutting the last bit of tape from a long black line of it partitioning the floor.

 

“What the hell is this?” Seulgi had demanded instantly, dropping her bag onto her bed and glaring at the shorter one for an answer.

 

"This is our border. The bathroom is free land, but other than that, everything on this side is my space, and everything on your side is your space," she had stated plainly, gesturing at each area respectively. “So I don’t cross into your section, and you don’t cross into mine."

 

Seulgi had taken a long, heavy breath before nodding slowly and moving to stand. "What, like this?"

 

A leg was tossed out over the line and kicked around carelessly until Wendy batted it away with a pillow.

 

“Yes,” she had seethed. “Just like that."

 

Seulgi simply eyed her critically for a moment before plopping back down onto her bed. It wasn't like she would have wanted anything from Wendy's side, anyway. “Fine."

 

Wendy had cocked an eyebrow at her easy compliance. “Fine."

 

And that was the end of that.

 

In the beginning, it had all gone well. They would stay out of each other’s way most days, save for the few instances where Wendy had caught her lingering too close to the tape for the former's comfort — which apparently equals a ruler’s length of distance.

 

But of course, Seulgi did eventually cross into her territory.

 

It just seemed like a good idea at the time, when she had run out of shampoo mid–shower and stumbled out of their shared bathroom to the sight of Wendy’s toiletries, sitting there in plain sight. The situation had simply called for her to trespass and steal some for the sole sake of keeping clean, and certainly not to aggravate her roommate.

 

Said roommate thought otherwise, when she somehow noticed that her shampoo bottle was lighter that the night before and proceeded to launch a full–out interrogation on Seulgi as if they were in some crime drama.

 

And now a few days later, the latter arrives back from dance practice to find her sheets stained with ketchup and 'Karma's a bitch — xoxo' written in lipstick on her wall. It takes all of five seconds for Seulgi to process the mess before her eye gives a twitch and a vein pops in her head, and she pivots smoothly on her heel with vengeance on her mind.

 

It doesn’t take long to locate the culprit, because Wendy’s inside voice is the equivalent of speaking through a megaphone, and they hang out at all of the same haunts, anyway.

 

Though somehow it just fuels the art major's fury even more when she spots her blue–headed roomie chatting it up with Jung Eunji. About their show choir, most likely. If show choir conversations typically involve that much skinship.

 

Seulgi doesn’t know why it sets her off, but it does — and she snaps.

 

"Wendy fucking Son whatever–the–fuck Seungwan, you are dead!"

 

It succeeds in startling both soprano singers from their conversation as Wendy jumps away.

 

"And that's my cue to leave!" the tiny girl smiles charmingly at Eunji before dashing off down the hallway, an irate roommate hot on her heels as her senior is left in the dust.

 

After two bypassed buildings and several wheezing minutes of colourful threats, Seulgi manages to tackle her on football field; the both of them cursing and grappling at one another in the grass until Wendy suddenly freezes.

 

“Oh my God wait, there’s a giant spider on your shoulder!"

 

“I’m not falling for that, Pipsqueak.”

 

“No, seriously!”

 

Seulgi makes the mistake of believing her for a second; long enough for Wendy to shove her aside and scramble away.

 

“Wha — Get back here!"

 

"Not a chance, Kang!"

 

She growls and gives chase until they reach the entrance to the arts building where she runs into Wendy; who collides with Professor Kwon; who stumbles against the door. It effectively brings their spat to a grinding halt when the intimidating older woman clears her throat and immediately orders them to explain their unruly behaviour.

 

Similar experiences in high school steer her through some minutes of nervous laughter and barefaced lies about playing tag out in the courtyard, and they manage to get her off their backs. Apparently university is like high school, and fighting your sworn enemy is generally frowned upon while roughhousing with your ‘friend’ isn’t. At least, that's what they have discovered from previous times of being caught bickering and on the brink of brawling on campus.

 

Wendy quickly calls for a truce as soon as the woman is out of earshot, on the grounds that she'd rather not have to pretend to be buddy–buddy with Seulgi after every single one of their public fights. The latter begrudgingly agrees for them to stay out of each other's way as much as possible, and it lasts for about two days until their next incident.

 

And this time, it is definitely in no way Seulgi's fault. For sure.

 

It happens on a normal Friday afternoon after dance practice — a time where Wendy isn't supposed to be back from choir rehearsals. So naturally when Seulgi gets to the dorms with one hand texting Ahyoung, she simply unlocks the door without knocking and nudges it open with her hip. Her eyes are absently glued to the screen, and they only flicker up at a slight movement and the rustle of clothing in the room before —

 

“Get out!"

 

The next thing she knows she's being shoved outside, tripping back from the unexpected strength of Wendy's arms and falling against the wall with a yelp as the door slams shut. Her phone lies discarded at her side, screen facing upwards and displaying her half–formed message; serving to make the girl even more annoyed at the unexpected presence of her roommate.

 

"What the hell?!" Seulgi growls immediately, picking up her phone before inspecting her sore rear. That's gonna bruise…

 

"I'm changing!"

 

She groans. "We're both girls, you know! It's not anything I haven't seen before on my own body!"

 

Something bumps into what sounds like a table. Seulgi hopes it's Wendy's dumb strong arms. "I don't care! What happened to our knocking rule?!"

 

"I thought you were still at choir practice!"

 

"It finished early,” Wendy snaps, and there's the tiniest of cracks in her voice that the taller brunette doesn't fail to pick up on. It sounds like every other time she’s come back from a session where she’s failed to hit the right notes — something Seulgi only knows as a fellow arts student who happens to pass by the music practice rooms a lot.

 

She tries to ignore it, and just rolls her eyes before sighing loudly in frustration. "Look, I'm sorry for just barging in, but I really need my Postmodernism notes."

 

Wendy doesn't relent. "You can wait until I'm finished."

 

"I'm gonna be late!" Seulgi barks, leaning against the door now.

 

"You're already five minutes late, what's another two?"

 

"Urgh! You are such an insufferable little —!"

 

The door opens suddenly and Seulgi falls forward this time, only to be cushioned by a soft pillow. Abnormally soft. And smelling a lot like her roommate’s pretentiously–named honeysuckle body wash.

 

It takes her three long seconds to realise it’s not a soft pillow.

 

Silence falls for a few tense seconds then, until Wendy finally speaks in a tone cold enough to freeze hell five times over.

 

"Do I need to shove you into the next century?"

 

Seulgi gulps. "…No. Please. Thanks."

 

She jumps away swiftly and averts her gaze before she can get slapped, but Wendy just clicks her tongue and pushes her way past as if it never happened.

 

Something about it makes her stare after the girl, her SNS conversation with Ahyoung forgotten as she slips her phone into her jacket pocket.

 

(Wendy's back looks so small.)

 

“…Hey.”

 

The single word slips out before she can stop herself, sharp as usual yet hesitant enough to be questionable. Surprisingly, Wendy actually stops and turns to her, albeit with an irritable scowl.

 

“What?”

 

Her mind blanks and she bites at her lip out of nervous habit. “Are you going to Joohyun–unnie's birthday party tomorrow?”

 

"Yeah?” The scowl fades a little, as does the tension in Seulgi's shoulders. "What's it to you?"

 

The inherent hard edge of her voice is fading too quickly, and she doesn't know what to do about it so she backs down. "Nothing. Just wanted to know if I had to set up tiny demon–repelling wards for her."

 

It earns her a glare, and she darts inside their room before Wendy can say anything back. Eventually the soft footfalls of her roommate start and leave, and Seulgi sinks against the closed door with a frown.

 

She's still your bitchy roommate, Kang.

 

A hand is dragged over her face as she lets out a groan, muttering curses at herself and Wendy and everyone she knows before moving to snatch her papers from her desk.

 

The repeating string of I shouldn't care turns into an alternating mantra of I don't care and I don't want to care; and when Seulgi sits through her lecture without writing or computing anything, she wonders why she even bothered showing up.

 

The energy left over from grinding her teeth and bouncing her leg for two hours culminates into her willingness to go to Jinri's house party.

 

It's only when she arrives hours later that she remembers Wendy is, in fact, also part of the Jinri's vast circle of friends. It hits her as soon as she walks in with her usual scowl, and spots the girl laughing with some try–hard hipster dressed like a stoner in the far corner.

 

"Park Jiwoon, really…?" Seulgi mutters to herself. Even Son Snobby can do better.

 

Ignoring the usual leers shot at her red cocktail dress and trademark leather jacket, she snatches her first drink so it won't annoy her as much. She doesn't even know what it is, which is infuriating already, but soon enough those thoughts are pushed to the back of her mind as the crowd around her seems to dance in sync to her movements. They start off as sways of her hips that evolve into jumps to the beat and waves of her body, until she finds herself grinding against the front of some overexcited guy who smells of weed, all while leaning against a random girl with pale shoulders and honeysuckle shampoo that smells just like —

 

"Seulgi!"

 

A jovial shout in her ear accompanies a rough tug of her arm, effectively pulling her out from where she was sandwiched between two strangers.

 

"What?" she greets Jinri's grin irritably as her dance partners close the gap she made without missing a beat.

 

Her friend just continues pulling her over to the punch table, unaffected by her clouded glare — as always. “Are you going to regal Joohyun-unnie with a present tomorrow?"

 

“Nothing like what you're expecting, I'm sure,” Seulgi calls over the thumping bass as she accepts a full cup of the stuff.

 

"You are her precious dongsaeng though,” Jinri points out, and the artist rolls her eyes.

 

“What did you get her, then?”

 

The drama major pulls a face as she swallows a mouthful straight from the ladle. “Not telling. You might steal my idea."

 

Seulgi just gives her a one–fingered salute and downs the rest of her drink before filling it up again.

 

Everything becomes a blur after Seulgi gets through her fifth one, but she’s pretty sure she sees Wendy again at some point following the sixth. The little pest is difficult to miss, with her dark blue hair and tight blue dress and annoyingly loud laughter.

 

It's the kind of laughter that reverberates in her ribcage when she's being pushed to stand next to the girl — because Amber is apparently friends with her roommate too, and all of Amber Liu's friends are friends with each other.

 

Supposedly, anyway.

 

"Hello, Cave Mouth," Seulgi sneers, watching her nemesis' expression fall into a glare.

 

"Snake Eyes," Wendy replies curtly, apparently still sober enough to stand in her six inch stilettos.

 

"Awkward," Amber chimes in at the pause, garnering a concerned frown from the girl.

 

"You're actually friends with this…person?"

 

"Yeah, wow, I had no clue you actually did charity like this too unnie," Seulgi adds, and Amber laughs a little nervously.

 

"I mean, I heard you two bicker on campus, but —“ A wary look is cast between them. “I didn’t know it was this bad."

 

Wendy shrugs. "We just don't get along."

 

“You’re like Tom and Jerry," Jinri snickers like she's figured out some secret, and Seulgi raises an eyebrow.

 

"Yeah, if Tom were an obnoxious kiss–ass and Jerry was the poor asshole who had to put up with it."

 

"And the only thing you got right there was you being an asshole; thank you, Kang."

 

"Always welcome, Ebichu."

 

"I have an idea!" Jinri cuts in before any more verbal jabs are landed. “We'll cuff you two together; see if that'll make you get along!"

 

The duo promptly turns to give her identical looks of "What the flying fuck," and "You've got to be kidding me."

 

"Don't joke about that, Jin," Seulgi shudders.

 

“She wishes,” her roommate answers gruffly, and she's too drunk to care about arguing back when the thought of handcuffs and Wendy proceeds to stall her thoughts for a moment too long.

 

(Too long to be normal for someone who hates her, at least.)

 

Some guy next to them yells a protest when Seulgi promptly snatches the bottle of soju from his hands, though a single glower from her and a sweet smile of apology from Jinri shuts him up quickly as the former chugs the rest of his drink in one go.

 

Wendy scoffs at the display and finishes off the bottle in her own hand, and Seulgi tries her damnedest to ignore the sly look that Jinri keeps shooting her way.

 

When the petite music major finally leaves to greet some friends from her course, Seulgi lets herself relax and accepts the cup of water Amber offers her. It's cold and refreshing and cools off the heat of her cheeks and her heart, and when she drinks the second and third and stumbles her way to the toilet half an hour later, the confusing thoughts of Wendy are dulled.

 

At 3 AM Jinri informs her that they're headed off home, and Seulgi accepts a ride to her dorm without much thought. Through the drunken haze she faintly registers Amber helping a thoroughly inebriated Wendy into the car too, and Seulgi can't find the energy complain about it even when her roommate ends up sleeping on her shoulder in the car.

 

When they finally arrive Seulgi can only recall bits and pieces of their journey, and it's a surprisingly short trek up to their dorm with her decidedly more sober friends' help. One thing that keeps her vaguely grounded is the simple fact that it's so quiet. Wendy is halfway to dreamland when Amber slips her coat off for her, and Seulgi finds it less annoying to be in the same room as the musician when neither of them are talking.

 

It helps her mind settle after all the stress of the day, and the last thing she remembers is being tucked into bed by her friends next to a soft, warm pillow that she doesn’t remember possessing.

 

Then there's a click and a giggle; both of which she ignores as she lets herself fall quickly into slumber.

 

She doesn’t think anything of it.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The first thing Seulgi notices when she wakes up is that the room feels warmer than usual.

 

There's still the aftereffect of alcohol in her brain that makes it hard to process much of anything, and she praises the fact that the blinds are still drawn when she opens her eyes. Forgetting to eat before the party last night definitely made the drinks hit harder than usual, but surprisingly enough it's only a dull throbbing in her head, now.

 

She gives a soft groan, and resolves to try and make the most of sleeping in some more since it's a Saturday. But a second later she goes tense, only just registering the heat next to her that's warming the room.

 

Or rather, warming her side.

 

Her fears are confirmed when she turns and sees Wendy lying there, invading her personal space with slow breaths against her neck.

 

She manages not to yell, and swiftly tries to move away until she notices the weight of a cool surface and something else being dragged by her wrist.

 

Then she feels that 'something else', and her stomach drops.

 

No.

 

Flashes of the night before have her cursing silently in her mind; specifically at one particularly tall theatre arts student and her elected 'right–hand llama'.

 

We'll cuff you two together, Jinri had said. Seulgi forgot that her friend was a stickler for keeping her word at the most unexpected times.

 

But really —

 

No, her friends aren't that insane.

 

She doesn't dare look down and only twitches a finger, then twists her wrist slightly. There's a clink of metal against metal, and the coolness of it contrasting against the smooth flesh touching her skin becomes all too apparent then as she immediately freezes in place.

 

…Her friends are batshit insane.

 

They've proven that with whatever crazy idea this is — to shackle her to her worst enemy in their sleep.

 

On Joohyun's goddamned birthday.

 

How the heck did they get back to their dorms like this, anyway? And on Seulgi's bed, of all places? Was that their doing, too?

 

She hurries to pinch herself. Not a nightmare.

 

Fucking hell.

 

Frustration wells up and brings her to sit upright, reaching for her phone from its place on the bedside table. Except in that moment she forgets she’s literally attached to another person, and said person groans when their arm is tugged away sharply; resulting in them frowning and blinking open bleary eyes seconds later.

 

And Seulgi doesn’t know what to do, so she panics.

 

"Don't panic," she tells the other girl when her gaze immediately settles on the handcuffs, and of course Wendy doesn't listen.

 

"What the hell did you do?” She flinches away and looks at their discarded jackets on the floor; eyebrows shooting up into her hairline when she realises then that they’re both in one bed. "Did you — D–Did we…?"

 

"Wha — No!” The sudden knot in her stomach is from disgust, Seulgi’s sure. “Holy shit, no. Why would you — Why would I even consider —"

 

"Okay, I'm gonna stop you right there before I end up punching you into another plane of existence."

 

“F–Fine,” Seulgi mutters, before jerking away as her roommate promptly leans close with an arm reaching past her. "Wait, what are you —"

 

"Calm your nonexistent tits, Twiggy,” the shorter girl grumbles, her voice still husky from sleep. Seulgi resists the urge to cover her ears. “There's a letter on your lap."

 

The paper is pink and lightly perfumed, and as she peers at it over her roommate’s shoulder she notices the lip print that’s so indicative of every handwritten note by Choi Jinri.

 

My dearest beloved February unnies, it begins, and Seulgi makes a gagging noise before Wendy shuts her up with a sharp elbow to her ribcage.

 

You were starting to annoy us with your ‘arguing old married couple' act, so we decided to let the both of you sort it out together or die of a slow, painful death because we care about you ~

 

Actually, we planned to have you come meet us for mine and Hyun–unnie's party at Amber’s place. We can probably unlock your handcuffs for you there, if you guys behave! We’re all looking forward to seeing you guys soon!

 

Love,

 

Jinri & Berber

 

p.s. If you come together alive, your rewards are not having to give me any presents!. (It would be nice, though…)

 

p.p.s. Okay so last night Sunyoung we actually lost the key but there will be another by tomorrow at the latest, according to Soojung's tech man.

 

p.p.p.s. Try not to kill each other? Hiding a body is difficult. Hiding two bodies is worse. Seriously.

 

The paper crumples sharply in the ensuing silence.

 

“…I'm going to kill them.”

 

“Finally, something we can agree on."

 

There's a momentary pause between the two before Wendy takes a breath and clears her throat.

 

"So, what now?"

 

Seulgi scoffs. "What do you mean, 'what now'? We're going to go get this dumb thing off."

 

Her roommate lets out something like a grumble. “Can’t you read? She said they lost the key."

 

"Then I guess we'll have to chainsaw it off, won’t we?"

 

An unamused look is tossed at the suggestion before Wendy just sighs. "Fine," she says, moving to get up. "But I had a bit to drink last night."

 

Seulgi only lets her get as far as standing beside the bed as she sits stubbornly beneath her covers, one handcuffed arm stretched out between them. "Yeah, I know."

 

Impatience fills her roommate's glare as she tries to tug her out. "Stop being an asshole just this once and follow me."

 

This time, Seulgi jerks her back hard enough to make her stumble forward a bit. "Why should I?"

 

A meaningful glance is cast in the direction of their shared ensuite. "Because I had quite a bit to drink."

 

Frowning, Seulgi follows her eyes to the other room for a moment before it clicks.

 

"Oh, for fuck's sake."

 

Going to the toilet is an embarrassing affair for the both of them when Seulgi's bladder demands to go straight after her. Wendy just makes it worse because she's a weirdo and a prude, and when they leave the door open enough to bridge their cuffed hands through, the taller one almost gets her arm slammed off.

 

("Stop moving so much!"

 

"I was adjusting my hand!"

 

"Just stay still or I will kick the door again.")

 

Thankfully, the initial awkwardness of being cuffed together wears off after their joint bathroom trip. Sating their hunger is next on the order of things to do, when Wendy complains of her empty stomach and Seulgi’s gut grumbles loudly in agreement. Except when they rifle through the cupboards for breakfast, Seulgi is only just reminded of her recent all nighter; which mostly consisted of her burning through her last stores of food.

 

She still double-checks the surrounding cupboards and the fridge just to be sure.

 

Nothing but other people’s snacks.

 

A quick glance is thrown in Wendy's direction.

 

There’s a pot of ramyun steaming in her hand already, which isn’t the best choice for breakfast, but it’s edible. And tasty. And the only thing Seulgi could possibly eat without being hunted down by angry hallmates.

 

You can do this. Just ask politely.

 

"Hey Stumpy, any chance I can steal some of that?"

 

Nailed it.

 

"Get your own food," Wendy grunts, slurping up another mouthful.

 

“I don’t have…ugh. Whatever," Seulgi sniffs, trying her best to tear her gaze away from the noodles steaming in their polystyrene bowl. "It's not like I really wanted to eat it anyway; it looks gross."

 

Wendy raises her eyebrows nonchalantly. "Fine by me."

 

"Fine, then," the brunette grinds her teeth.

 

"Fine."

 

“Fine!"

 

"Fine."

 

"Fine!"

 

And silence reigns for three long beats until Seulgi gives an aggravated huff.

 

“…This was so much easier when I could actually walk away."

 

“Sucks to be you,” Wendy shrugs back at her.

 

“You’re the one suffering with me on Joohyun–unnie's birthday, Half-Pint."

 

That brings a scowl back onto her roommate’s face. "You really think you're hot shit, insulting me even after asking me for food?"

 

Seulgi snorts. "Have you seen my abs?"

 

“No, and I don't want to."

 

“You're missing out."

 

“On baby fat?"

 

"Try 'the solid rewards of hard work'."

 

"I'll go with 'the wannabe muscles of your average jerk', but thanks.”

 

With that, another bite of food is lost when it could have been shared generously with Seulgi, and the latter can’t help the pettiness that tilts the pot up when Wendy lifts it to her mouth.

 

"Bitch —"

 

She feigns an innocent expression and withdraws her hand as the music major narrowly avoids spilling soup down her chin. "We're not going to make it to unnie's party in time, at the rate you're eating."

 

"I'm eating at a normal pace, Kang,” she mutters, taking a tentative sip this time.

 

"Eat at a quicker pace then, or I'll feed you so fast you'll burn your vocal cords and lose your lead soprano position."

 

That makes the girl pause. “…How did you know I made lead?"

 

Seulgi shoots her an incredulous look. "Who the fuck else would make lead?” she sniffs, placing her free hand on her hip with disinterest. “Seriously though, can you just hurry up and finish eating, already?"

 

"I'm done, calm down,” Wendy grouses, tossing the empty bowl in the bin.

 

The taller girl flares up. "I am calm."

 

A disbelieving look meets her heavy scowl. "You're hungry. And angry."

 

“I’m always hangry. Get with the programme.”

 

“Hangry isn’t a word, how many times do I have to tell you —"

 

“It’s a word.” Seulgi crosses her arms defiantly, and succeeds in making her roommate slap a palm to her forehead in agitation. “I’m hangry because you refuse to share your food with a soul in need."

 

“I don’t make a habit of sharing my food with anyone — least of all a whiny cussing brat,” Wendy informs her haughtily. “Just be patient and we’ll go get you something to eat before going to Amber’s, alright?”

 

The unexpected offer catches her off guard, but when it immediately reminds her of the birthday party there, Seulgi inwardly groans.

 

To make things worse, I still haven’t even bought Joohyun–unnie’s present…Brilliant.

 

"Wait, you haven’t gotten her anything yet?"

 

The surprise on Wendy's face raises her hackles again in an instant. “Hey, keep your rich girl nose out of my head."

 

"You said it out loud, Peabrain." Her roommate calmly drags her to the sink to wash her hands briefly. "Some friend you are, not even getting her a present."

 

"Birthdays aren't always about presents!"

 

"Yeah, it's the thought that counts. But I guess you didn't give it any thought at all."

 

"Well, what are you planning to give to Joohyun–unnie today?"

 

Wendy blanches as she dries her hands, before looking away with a low mumble.

 

The taller girl leans closer with narrowed eyes. “Yeah, didn’t quite catch that."

 

Her rival shoots her a withering look before sighing and scuffing her soles on the floor. “I was going to make chocolates for her."

 

A moment ticks by for the hasty, almost indecipherable utterance to make sense, and when it does she’s shot a deadpan look.

 

“That’s lame."

 

“She’s frugal."

 

"Okay, but you can't cook for shit."

 

It’s Wendy’s turn to fume this time. "Just because you can stick random things together to make edible stuff doesn’t make you the next Gordon Ramsay."

 

Seulgi just hums noncommittally. "I’ve got the swearing part down, at the very least."

 

“I’m sure. And were you even planning on getting anything for Joohyun–unnie?"

 

That throws her for a moment as she fumbles for an answer, scratching her head sheepishly with her free hand. “Um, yeah. Flowers…?"

 

Wendy snorts. “Figures. That's the cheapest, most general thing you could go for."

 

“Hey, it's not like your idea would actually work out well in the first place!"

 

"At least my idea is more heartfelt!” she retorts adamantly, and they lapse into a wordless staring contest for several seconds more before Wendy rolls her eyes and lets out a gruff sigh. “Look. Okay. How about —” A tut of her tongue and a dropped gaze has Seulgi turning to her with grudging curiosity. “I…can’t believe I’m about to say this.”

 

“Just spit it out already, Short Stuff.“

 

The petite girl takes a deep breath like the drama queen she is, and Seulgi prepares herself for some bomb to make her day even worse.

 

(It’s a bomb of some kind for sure, but just not one she could ever have expected.)

 

“I…will help you. If you help me.”

 

Silence.

 

The birds previously twittering outside fall mute, and it feels like an entirely appropriate time for crickets to start singing their usual tune following a badly-told joke. Except Wendy’s resentful expression doesn’t look like a joke, and Seulgi only remembers to shut her dropped jaw five seconds later.

 

“…Come again?"

 

Her roommate taps her foot impatiently.

 

"If I help you get something for Joohyun-unnie, you help me make the chocolates."

 

Seulgi snorts. What a punchline. "Yeah, not happening."

 

The split-second change of expression into a glower almost gives her whiplash. "Then you can stick with your lame lack of ideas and unnie will see just how insincere you are."

 

"I can think of things to give her!” she insists indignantly.

 

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

 

"Like —“ She flounders for a moment before snapping her fingers. “A box of chocolates!"

 

“So you’re going to copy me,” Wendy intones.

 

“No, because I’m not making them."

 

Her expression turns incredulous. “And that’s worse, because it's not from the heart,” she states, matter-of-factly. "It's from the capitalist regime. Use your brain and come up with something sincere, Kang."

 

“Wouldn’t a card suffice?"

 

That earns a groan. “You can’t be serious."

 

“…A car?"

 

“Excessive. Does she even drive?"

 

"A scooter, then!"

 

"You're hopeless."

 

The pitying look Wendy gives her is just as discomforting as it is infuriating, and Seulgi throws her hands up in defeat. “Ugh! You know what? Fine.”

 

The slyest of smiles creeps onto her roommate’s lips.

 

“‘Fine', what?"

 

She focuses on her fingers as they fiddle with a crease in her shirt. “…I’m listening.”

 

"To?"

 

Her own lips pull into a sneer at the smug triumph in Wendy’s voice. "…Your ideas."

 

The music major gives a satisfied hum. “Good. Now first, you have to help me make my chocolates."

 

Seulgi immediately looks up. "But —!”

 

Wendy meets her cantankerous scowl with one of her own. "This is the deal, Kang. You help me, then I'll help you."

 

"Your deal sucks ass."

 

"It's the only thing that can help your bony ass right now, so shut it. We're in the kitchen anyway, and I just bought the ingredients yesterday."

 

The cupboard beside them is opened to reveal Wendy’s store of food, with half of it consisting of various cocoa powders and sugars and a giant bag of flour. “You can make cookies with these,” the older student mutters, plucking them out and inspecting each brand at length.

 

The girl beside her takes them from her hands warily. “I want to make chocolates.”

 

“Did you even look at the recipe? There’s no cocoa butter here.” She points to the emptied contents of the cupboard. “And you don’t use flour or sugar when making chocolates."

 

Wendy stares at her, then at the ingredients. “Oh."

 

Seulgi just rolls her eyes. “Either way unnie likes plain old cookies better, so you’re in luck.”

 

As if the day couldn’t get weirder, Wendy doesn’t challenge her on that. “You know how to make cookies, then?”

 

“Oh, please. I can make them in my sleep,” Seulgi smirks, and that’s how they end up bickering over a giant bowl of cookie dough, half an hour later. The art major takes charge as much as she can and uses her right hand to roll them into chestnut–sized spheres on the counter, hissing at her temporary baking partner every time she moves their arms too roughly while mixing the remaining ingredients together.

 

After putting the first tray in the oven, washing up is just as chaotic, and Wendy nearly cries over a chipped plate on the drying rack that apparently cost forty-thousand won; because trust her to bring chinaware to university. Nonetheless, ten minutes, eight newly-rolled cookie dough balls, and two arguments later, the timer finally rings. Seulgi is quick to retrieve the tray lest her idiot roommate tries to take it out with bare hands or something equally as dumb, and soon the second tray of cookies is loaded in just as Wendy goes to inspect their fresh batch.

 

"Careful, they're gonna be —“ the taller girl’s warning goes unheeded as one steaming cookie is plucked off, "— hot."

 

A curious look is tossed her way. "What's it to you if they are?” The snack is set down in a tupperware box labelled ‘W.S.S’ off to the side. "Which they aren't, by the way."

 

Seulgi frowns, and decides to test it out for herself. “The fuck — they are hot!"

 

Wendy rolls her eyes as she takes another two out with ease. “Quit being such a baby."

 

“I'm actually the older one, here.”

 

"By like, ten days.”

 

The baking tray continues to be emptied swiftly into the box, the muttered, "Eleven, actually…” falling on deaf ears in the process.

 

"Plus you act like a six year–old, anyway."

 

The artist flares up at that. “At least I'm cute about it!"

 

Wendy snorts. "There's a difference between sickeningly cute and just sickening. Guess which one you fall under?"

 

“Oh, I don't know, the former?"

 

"The latter, it's the latter!” her roommate cries, planting a hand on the counter in defeat. “Honestly, if I weren't attached to you right now I wouldn't have to deal with this."

 

"So what; you'd be dealing with your application form for working in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory? Since you can suddenly bake, and all."

 

“Shut up, Kang."

 

“The Oompa Loompa life might not suit you if you can’t do it on your own, though.”

 

“I said, shut up.”

 

“But if things with Joohyun–unnie don't work out, it could be a good —"

 

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Fortunately, neither of them end up killing each other.

 

Unfortunately, their back and forth arguing only gets interrupted by the smell of smoke coming from the oven.

 

“And this is why dorm life is crap,” Seulgi sighs as they gather outside with the rest of the pissed off residents in their block.

 

“May I remind you that we're the ones who set off the fire alarm," Wendy points out, earning her a flat expression.

 

"Say that a little louder, I don't think security heard you." A dirty look is thrown back at that, and Seulgi rolls her eyes. "Plus, it still doesn't change the fact that it's crap."

 

The smaller girl inspects her nails with a sour expression. "Because you have to share a room with me?"

 

Seulgi gives her a weird look. "No, because I have to share an entire kitchen with a bunch of culinarily challenged strangers," she grouses, missing how Wendy stares at her for a few seconds as she's too busy glaring at the few people who begin to notice the cuffs around their wrists.

 

“C'mon then," the art student adds gruffly, tugging her along easily as the crowd is eventually given the go–ahead to return inside. "Let's grab your stupid cookies and find something for me to give to Joohyun–unnie."

 

Wendy sighs. “Whatever you say, Miss Masterchef.”

 

An elbow is jabbed lightly into her ribcage at that, but nothing else is said until they reach the kitchen and retrieve Wendy's box of successful cookies from earlier. Twin glances of sheepish guilt land on the burned aftermath lying in the sink, but the silence continues on as Seulgi leads them out of the building and into the car park.

 

“Oh, don’t tell me we’re riding in your tin can?"

 

A glower is levelled down at her companion as she presses the key to unlock her precious baby — a plain red sedan gifted to her as a ’starting out’ car by her parents. “I'm not paying for the bus,” the girl replies, sliding behind the wheel easily and putting the box of cookies in the backseat.

 

Wendy puts a hand on her hip. “And how am I gonna get in?”

 

Seulgi raises her eyebrows. “Figure it out yourself.”

 

“Okay, get out so I can climb over the console,” the music major orders promptly, earning her a sneer.

 

“Just don't step on anything that's not the floor,” comes the huffy reply as she stands and lets the smaller girl enter. There's a muttered 'thank you' as Wendy passes, settling in the shotgun seat with surprising grace and no trace of footprints where they shouldn't be.

 

"Don't look so smug," Seulgi mutters as she climbs in after her, shutting the door and strapping herself in as her companion does the same, but with her usual self–satisfied grin.

 

“I'm not smug," the infuriating pipsqueak says. "You're just salty."

 

The handbrake and gear are set off with a jerk; the accelerator pushed just a little too hard as Seulgi clicks her tongue and tears out of the car park with only her roommate's squeak of surprise as a modicum of victory.

 

“I refuse to die in your car, Kang," Wendy growls, reaching for the radio to occupy her hands and keep them from gripping too hard at her seatbelt.

 

"I'm dying right now because you can't share food, so suck it," Seulgi sniffs adamantly, garnering a scoff of disbelief.

 

"I can't believe Joohyun–unnie is friends with someone like you. The fact that you have a head start like that…"

 

A red light brings them to a brief stop. "I have a what, now?"

 

"A head start." Wendy cocks an eyebrow at the incredulous look given to her. "In winning her affections?"

 

Seulgi shakes her head. "Wow, um. Yeah. No. The only one obsessed with her here is you, Windmill. And can you please stop changing the stations, oh my God."

 

She stops fiddling with the radio, but only to give her a wide eyed stare. "Wait. You don't like her like that?"

 

"Duh. No."

 

"Huh.” She sits back against her seat with a quiet ‘poof’ of air from the cushioned material. "Could have sworn those third years were telling the truth. Oh, drive thru on your right."

 

Seulgi hums with disinterest as she automatically signals to turn the car in. "Well, now you're hearing the truth from me. Honestly, I didn't take you for a gossiper."

 

"I'm not,” Wendy insists, almost as whiny as a child as they join the queue round the side of the building. "The others in choir are, though. It's like a mother's meeting every session — you stay for a minute and suddenly you're up to date with everything about everyone."

 

Seulgi smirks. "Sounds like hell."

 

Wendy shakes her head with a short breath of laughter. "You'd hate to be around the drama society, then."

 

“Yeah, being friends with Jinri is more than enough for me, thanks." She shakes her head and rolls down her window to order a breakfast burrito, and they lapse into a weirdly comfortable silence as the car rolls onward. Seulgi has half the mind to break it with an insult until a thought occurs to her at the same moment that they reach the service window.

 

“Hey, you know how you’re always following Hyun around like a lost puppy?” she starts suddenly, tapping at the steering wheel to the jazz tune on the radio.

 

Wendy straightens up beside her. “I don’t follow her around like a lost —“

 

“That's five thousand for your breakfast burrito, ma'am.”

 

"Thanks," she smiles, reaching for her wallet. But she comes up with air, and only then does she remember that said wallet is still hanging around in the dorm. "Um."

 

"Here."

 

A small wad of bills are handed over, and Seulgi lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding when Wendy receives her change and sits back in her seat.

 

"Have a nice day," is called after them without batting an eyelid to their joined wrists as they pull out of the drive. Their conversation remains caught in limbo on the road, up until Wendy speaks up again as Seulgi's made it halfway through her breakfast.

 

"I'm not a lost puppy," is all she states, and the older one spares her a quizzical glance.

 

"Right." Another bite is taken and chewed on thoughtfully. "So have you ever tried, I don't know — asking her out?"

 

“Oh, ha ha. You're hilarious.” A right at the next junction brings them into a quieter neighbourhood; weaving down one road and then another, smaller one, before slowing the car a third of the way down. Wendy clears her throat. "…Okay, no, I haven't actually."

 

“You see, this is why you’re single,” Seulgi concludes with a shrug, parking in the space outside the house on the left before making her way out.

 

“Hey!” Wendy clambers after her when their arms stretch with the distance, almost tripping over the handbrake and dropping the box of cookies in the process. “I’ll have you know that I’ve dated several times before!”

 

“Sure,” Seulgi drawls, kicking her door shut lazily and locking up the car. “I can believe that.”

 

A withering look meets her nonplussed stare. “I can’t even be bothered to argue with you anymore.”

 

“Oh no, what ever am I to do?"

 

“Keeping your mouth shut sounds like a good way to go."

 

“Not if it pleases you, your highness."

 

“I told you to stop calling me that, stick insect."

 

“Right back at you, blowhard."

 

“Knucklehead."

 

“Windbag."

 

“Assha —"

 

“Hey, you guys finally made it!”

 

Amber grins as soon as she opens the door; Seulgi’s fist still poised to actually knock and Wendy’s scowl remaining as a burning prerequisite to another fiery argument.

 

“Oh, uh.” The engineering major takes an unconscious step back from the air of tension on her front porch. "In one piece, too.”

 

Just about, Seulgi thinks to herself as her companion waves in greeting.

 

“Don’t celebrate just yet,” the smaller girl states drily, looking around. “Now, where’s Jinri? I’d like to have a word or two…”

 

“Right here!”

 

The fresh–faced woman of the hour bounces into view to pull them inside with all of her hidden strength; made easier by the fact that the pair are still linked together with handcuffs.

 

Which quite literally brings them to the matter at hand.

 

“Hey, isn’t that —" Seulgi splutters, eyes falling the object in Jinri's grasp, sparkling with the same iron encircling her wrist. "So you do have the key?"

 

"Yeah, I guess?” the tall brunette shrugs. “We found it under the sofa."

 

Wendy immediately holds out their joined arms towards her. “Then what are you waiting for?”

 

She just grins in return and gives her attention to the box in the musician’s other hand. “I want to know what those are, first.”

 

“Cookies that aren’t for you,” the latter answers promptly, and Seulgi nods beside her.

 

“We baked them this morning.”

 

Wendy instantly makes a face at her. “You baked them this morning. I came up with the idea this morning.”

 

“Who came up with what idea?"

 

Joohyun’s voice brings all the heads in the room turning toward her, stepping into the front room of the Liu household with her younger sister Yerim in tow.

 

“Hey, unnie!” Amber beams, jutting her thumb at the gift. "These two baked cookies for you!"

 

Both of the Kim siblings stop to share a slack jawed look. "A joint present?” Joohyun asks, a bemused smile curling on her lips.

 

A pensive frown forms on Yerim’s brow. “So is this an alternate universe, or…?"

 

"It's not what you think!” Wendy splutters.

 

"Then who really baked them?” Jinri challenges with an impish glint in her eye.

 

"Well, Seulgi —"

 

“We both did,” the girl interjects, subtly nudging her companion to continue.

 

“I —“ Wendy hesitates for a split second. “W-Well, I just helped."

 

“It was a joint effort,” Seulgi insists, with a sidelong glance at her.

 

It doesn’t do much to sway the stubborn young musician.

 

“No, it wasn’t. I just measured things.”

 

“You also rolled the dough balls and set the oven and the timer.”

 

“You knew the recipe and mixed everything! I was just following your instructions.”

 

“All I did was order you around."

 

Wendy folds her arms. “All I did was put stuff in the bowl."

 

Seulgi pinches the bridge of her nose, her eyes turned toward the eaves with a muttered, “Oh my God, this is why I can’t be nice to you…”

 

“Excuse me, what did you just say?"

 

“Alright. So from what I gather, it was a combined effort. Correct?” Joohyun intervenes in her TA voice before a fight ensues, and Wendy blushes as their other three onlookers laugh quietly at the side. Then the older woman flashes a smile at her, and she turns into a human tomato. "Thanks, you two. I’m glad you’re getting along like this, now."

 

The taller of them flashes a proud grin back. "No problem, unnie."

 

“Y-Yeah, it was nothing,” Wendy affirms bashfully, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

 

“Um.” Their attentions go to Yerim now. “Is no one gonna talk about the fact that you two are cuffed together?"

 

The room lets out a collective 'Oh'. “Right, yes, that." Amber turns to her housemate expectantly. "Jin?”

 

The drama major heaves a deep, mournful sigh. “Fine, fine. Only because you two are actually getting along, for once."

 

“Which is a really nice change,” Amber adds brightly, taking the key and hurrying forward to unlock the cuffs.

 

It's silent for a moment as she jiggles it around, and Seulgi holds her breath as Wendy contemplates finding the nearest saw should the damned thing on their wrists fail to come off.

 

A click and a clunk of metal meeting the carpeted floor announces their freedom soon enough though, and Seulgi sighs a relieved “Finally,” stretching her limbs out at length as Wendy does the same.

 

"I'm not even going to ask why you guys were stuck together in the first place," Joohyun remarks; casting a knowing look at the other birthday girl, who poses cutely in return.

 

Yerim picks the offending object up with a thoughtful hum. "I do wonder where you got these from though. They're like real police issued ones."

 

"The costume design folks have a ton of stuff like this," Jinri shrugs. "You just need to know how to pull some strings."

 

A loud rumbling puts the spotlight on Seulgi, who merely pats her stomach and casts an expectant gaze around. “Well now that’s cleared up, can we get to the birthday meal already? I'm kind of starving."

 

Wendy gapes at her. "You just had breakfast."

 

“Yeah,” she retorts, "and now it's lunch. I know my mealtimes, dude."

 

Yerim raises her hand. “I already booked a table at Sooyoung’s dad’s restaurant."

 

Joohyun shakes her head at her sibling. “You just wanted to go see your girlfriend."

 

“Oh yeah!” Jinri tugs on Amber’s arm with urgency. “Everyone should be there already, so let's —“

 

That brings a note of alarm to the eldest of them. “Everyone? What do you mean, 'everyone’?"

 

“Uh…Everyone we know?”

 

“You booked out the whole restaurant, didn’t you."

 

“Hey, gotta make the most of my connections for my dear sister, right?"

 

“Okay, let’s take you to see your girlfriend quickly then,” Seulgi suggests, dragging the redheaded Kim sibling away by her collar as the blue-haired girl beside her takes the opportunity to duck into the kitchen with an utterance of storing the cookies.

 

“I’ll take my car, too,” Amber offers, grabbing her keys from the hooks near the staircase and ushering them out. Seulgi is the last to follow, leaning against the open front door as she spins her own keys around her finger.

 

“Wendy, are you coming?” she calls lazily, and there’s a pop of a tupperware lid being shut before her roommate hurries back out into the hallway.

 

“Yeah, I’m —"

 

Then she pauses, eyes narrowing and locking onto on Seulgi’s abruptly.

 

“…What?"

 

A curious tint of pink colours Wendy's cheeks. “N-Nothing, it's just —“

 

Seulgi frowns. “Just?”

 

“You’ve never called me that before.”

 

She almost falls sideways.

 

“What, ‘Wendy’?” The fact that the puny musician seems strangely happy about it is something out of the field, that’s for sure. Seulgi can only scratch her neck awkwardly and focus on reaching her car as Wendy shuts the door behind them. “Geez, if I knew it would make your day I would never have said it."

 

She catches the dirty look flashed her way that’s gone as quickly as it appears, and Seulgi finds herself thankful for Yerim’s impatience — badgering Amber to leave first and thus leaving only herself to bear witness to this twilight-zone-esque interaction with her sworn enemy.

 

“Asshole,” is all Wendy snorts, opening the passenger seat door. “I’m just not used to it."

 

“It’s your name, isn’t it?” Seulgi mumbles as she climbs in behind the wheel, averting her eyes from the small grin that continues to grow on rosy lips, all as their owner shrugs.

 

“That’s true. It certainly sounds better than your other admittedly creative nicknames, though if you can recall in actuality my full name is Wendy Son Seung —“

 

“Oh my God, shut up,” Seulgi groans, starting the car with a shudder.

 

“Regret it yet?”

 

Her roommate's knowing look is rebutted with a roll of her eyes. “No. But you’re tempting me to stick with calling you midget all the time."

 

Wendy doesn’t say anything, at first. The dancing light of her eyes is enough of an answer anyway; fuelling the fiery blush on Seulgi’s cheeks without a word as she pulls out into the road with Amber’s range rover well ahead.

 

And then, inevitably, she’s awarded with a laugh. A laugh.

 

As if this day couldn’t get any weirder.

 

"You say the sweetest things,” Wendy utters drily, the quirk of her lips warmer than any other expression that Seulgi’s earned from her. It’s a surprising change.

 

Yet, not unwelcome.

 

It’s then that she realises two things.

 

One is that she's never going to live this moment down. Ever. Not if Wendy has any say in it, anyway.

 

Another is that she wouldn’t mind calling her Wendy if it meant the girl smiled at her more than she frowned.

 

She’s still not entirely sure what that says about their tumultuous (and at best, rocky) relationship, but she shrugs it off as another thought for another time. This feels nice right now, as strange as it is.

 

"I still hate you, you know,” Wendy speaks again, as if reading her mind. She rubs her wrist absently as her fingers begin playing with the radio like before, and Seulgi just scoffs lightly; the beginnings of a smile aching pleasantly on her lips.

 

"I still hate you, too.”

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> (Imagine if wenseul hated each other lol)


End file.
